To Live Fast and Die Young
by DarthGrammar
Summary: A collection of one-shots, each focused on a particular pairing, be it romantic or platonic. Strong focus on cross-generational and non-canon pairings. Some slash. Most recent: Sid was stuck in bedlam, until one of his best friends burst in. "... Alo?"
1. Emily and Cassie

**Author's Note: **Greetings, fanfic readers! I am DarthGrammar, and I think the story summary pretty much sums up what you're gonna get from this collection of one-shots. Some context: this is meant to take place in season/series 2, before Sid and Cassie get back together. Also, this is one of the few one-shots that is going to have significantly more sexual content; in my opinion, this one is bending the M rating a little. So you've been warned; skip to the next chapter if you want to avoid it! Reviews are, as always, deeply appreciated. Thanks!

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><p>Emily had never snuck out without Katie before. But <em>oh, <em>how she loved it… so far, anyway. The music in the club was thumping loudly, sending rhythmic vibrations up and down her body; the three drinks and one spliff she'd had earlier only heightened all her sensations, so all in all, it was a quite pleasant feeling. She instinctively looked around for Katie… _oh yeah, Katie's not here. _Emily wondered what was more strange- not having Katie with her, or always having Katie with her.

As she ventured out further into the mass of writhing bodies, a small and pale hand caught hers, pulling her back out again. Emily looked up at the owner of that hand, and found herself unable to look down again.

It was a girl. She was like Goldilocks come to life- her fair hair curled around her face, her eyes were round, and her body was small and almost childlike. Except for her tits. _My God, her tits… _

_What on earth am I doing thinking about her tits? _

Emily shook her head, as if that might expel the indiscreet thoughts from it.

"Hi." the girl said. Her smile was so wide and infectious, Emily couldn't muster up the meanness to tell her to bugger off. But then what was the alternative?

"Hi. I'm Emily."

"Emily." Her eyes wandered into the crowd for a second, as if she had to really consider whether she liked the name. "Wow."

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><p>Ten minutes later, Emily was up against the wall and she was kissing this <em>girl <em>and everything felt fine and dandy. Except maybe the cold wall, but that couldn't be avoided. The girl was passionate (almost aggressive)- every part of her was touching a part of Emily, and it felt so raw and so sensual and _so good. _

Emily hadn't known that kissing could feel like this. Katie had certainly never told her anything about it. But, to be fair, Katie had had _much _more practice- maybe Emily had been doing something wrong up 'til now.

The girl was kissing the juncture where Emily's jaw met her neck, sucking on the skin, and Emily whimpered- it was a small sound, so easily lost in the squalor of the club, but the girl heard it. She paused, looked at Emily with those all-seeing eyes, and led her into a darker corner, where nobody was bound to look.

Her hands now roamed freely, and Emily let hers do the same. She was losing consciousness of what body part belonged to what person- her fingers grasped her waist, her hips ground forward in anticipation and longing, her hands brushed lightly along the sides of her body, her fingers tangled through her hair, her tongue swirled along her skin- and neither of them knew which "her" was Emily and which was the girl.

Emily lost all sense of reason when the girl's hand wandered beneath her skirt, and began to stroke her- first through her underwear, and then skin-to-skin. She tilted her head back, holding in the loud moan that she knew would ruin it all. "Harder," she whispered. She grasped the girl's breasts, rubbing her thumbs over her nipples. There was no club now- there was no music, no swarms of people ignoring them. There was only this girl and her spectacular hands and her pink mouth and her and her and nothing but her.

Emily's breath arrested in her throat when she came- even though her chest heaved, no air came in. She pulled the girl to her and gave her one long, searing kiss- a kiss that had an air of finality about it. The girl pulled away, withdrew her hand. In the aftermath, only one thought crossed Emily's mind: _Does this mean I'm gay? _

_ I couldn't be. _

_ If I was, I'd know. _

The girl- damn her enigmatic smile! - gave her a lingering look. "You don't fool me one bit, Emily Fitch." she said. As if she was a damn mindreader! Emily opened her mouth to protest, but the girl had folded herself back into the crowd and disappeared, gone as quickly as she had come.

_What the fuck?_

Emily wondered if she'd have to slap herself to wake up from this- dream? State of being? Whatever it was. All she knew was that she had to get out of the club.

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><p>One very short cab ride and one very long walk up the stairs later, Emily finally collapsed into her bed. She looked to her right- the empty bed beside her own was a reminder. <em>Katie does shit like this all the time. <em>Emily gathered the sheets around her, tried to sleep, failed. Her mind was consumed by the girl with the golden hair, the girl who knew her name- _but did I ever tell her my last name? How did she know it? Better to forget about it. It's not like I'll ever see _her _again. _As something occurred to Emily, she smiled. She touched her lips.

Katie wasn't the only one who kept secrets anymore.


	2. Grace and Freddie

Grace Violet Blood had always had a soft spot for princes.

She knew all about them- what they looked like, how they behaved, how they sounded. She made it her business to know. Fairy tales were what she liked best, after all. So she wasn't surprised when she saw a real, live prince.

Every day, she passed his house on her way home. Sometimes, he was talking to his sister; most of the time, though, he was on his skateboard, trying to fly and falling most of the time. (It was not a very princely pastime, but hopefully Grace could help teach him what princes were fit for.) Otherwise, he was exactly as she had expected- his dark hair fell into his eyes just _perfectly, _his voice was quiet and melodious, and he walked with an unassuming and jovial manner, all the while holding his head high. Like a royal should.

Unfortunately, on one fine day when she was walking home, Grace had stared at him a second too long and she tripped over a crack in the sidewalk- her books tumbled from her arms and her splayed-out palms skidded against the pavement, leaving graying patches on the heels of her hands. She gasped at the dull pain that was beginning to spread up her arms; she tried to gather her books together, but before she could, that abominable skateboard skidded into her line of sight.

"Here, let me help you with those." It was _him._ His sympathetic smile was somehow making her more rapturous by the second and increasing her embarrassment and despair. _He'll never want to live happily ever after with me now… not after this. _

"Thank you-" it took everything not to say 'Your Highness'! - "sir."

"No problem." He smiled that beatific smile again; her knees threatened to give way beneath her when she heard a shrill "Oi, Freddie!" and he glanced back, sighing.

"Just be careful where you step next time, yeah?" Grace could tell it wasn't meant out of malice or spite; princes didn't say things like that, after all, unless they meant them well. And in an instant, he was gone; the mysterious Freddie was walking away.

And Grace was utterly smitten with him.

For days she dreamed about him. She ran home, collapsed breathlessly on her canopy bed, and clutched her books- they were now precious relics, because _he _had picked them up for her. And just like in her stories, the days of longing turned into weeks, and the weeks turned into months. The regal and elusive Freddie became the perfect man for her; everything she wanted was in him. Nothing less than a prince would do.

Until she went to Roundview and realized that maybe a prince wasn't exactly what she wanted after all.


	3. JJ and Mini

Mini storms away from Liv- she's utterly fuming. How… how she could… with _Nick_… she couldn't even form one coherent thought.

Go figure.

Every emotion that Mini has ever felt, for as long as she can remember, is larger-than-life; be it anger, joy, jealousy, or something else entirely, if Mini feels it, then she feels it completely and all-encompassingly. So when she finally finds a bench and slumps upon it, and her wild rage gives way to a quiet and deep depression, she starts to cry, not knowing or caring who sees.

"Excuse me, miss… are you okay?"

Her head shoots up. A fidgety boy, about her age or maybe a little older, is staring at her. His tangled mess of brown hair looks like it operates upon its own laws of physics (not that Mini knows anything about physics anyway), and he's pushing a baby stroller. Well, _that's _distasteful. Mini's never liked babies. Kids are all right- actually, she loves kids- but not babies. She wipes the dribbling mascara from her cheeks.

"Yeah, thanks," she says, dismissively. Instead of going away, though, he sits at the far edge of the bench and pulls the stroller up next to him. They sit in silence for a few minutes- Mini contemplates getting up and leaving, but no, that would be tantamount to admitting defeat. He, on the other hand, seems utterly satisfied with the silence; he flashes her an awkward smile and contents himself with the view of the lake.

Suddenly, he speaks. "It's a guy, isn't it?"

Mini is bewildered. "What?"

"A guy. Who's making you upset."

"It's none of your business!" His face, which was tilted toward her, snaps back into a front-facing position; he looks stunned, and frankly, a little upset. She shoots him a conciliatory look. "Sorry… yeah, it's a guy. How'd you know?"

He shrugs. "Lucky guess. I remember how my friends treat… used to treat girls." A shadow passes over his face and Mini decides not to press the issue further. Although she just wants him to go away, part of her wonders what he means by it.

"You want my advice?" he queries. There is no trace of sadness on his face now; it has exploded into the bonny brilliance befitting a young child. Mini is a little taken aback; she almost expects this boy to reveal that he is a sprite or a changeling or Peter Pan, some character from one of the stories her mother told her when she was a young girl, back when the world was all magic and loveliness.

Well, if this one interlude is her only shot at living a fairytale, then here goes.

"Sure."

"You look like one of those dames who knows _exactly _what she wants in life." Mini smiles; that fits her to a T. "So, figure out what you want- and go get it. If you want him, then go after him." He smiles. "Any guy who didn't want _you_ would be a daft fool. I can tell."

Well, _that _much Mini agrees with. Nick was an idiot.

"And if he broke your heart… well, fuck him." Mini rolls her eyes. She doesn't need some stranger to tell her that; Grace could say the same thing. Hell, any of her friends could.

"Oh, I see what you're thinking. _Anyone _could tell you that, right? Well, listen; I've never met you before, and already I can tell a lot about you."

"Oh, yeah? Like what?"

"Like nobody fucks around with you. Like you act like a right bitch most of the time, but on the inside, you're scared as hell and you just want people to like you. So find the people you love, love them as much as you possibly can, and fuck the rest."

She looks at him, not even knowing what to think. "Who _are_ you?"

He shoots a hand forward. "Jonah Jeremiah Jameson. Pleasure to make your acquaintance. And you are?"

Well, if he was going for formalities… "Minerva McGuinness. Nice to meet you, Mr. Jameson."

"Likewise. Well, Miss McGuinness, I certainly hope that you feel better, but I must be off. I'm taking young Albert-" he gestures to the sleeping baby- "out on a walk through the park. Goodbye."

Mini just sits there, stunned; she remembers to wave, says "Goodbye," softly, and watches him walk away.

As JJ strolls down the paved walkway, Albert in tow, he thinks to himself. _Yet another successful social interaction under your belt, Jameson. Well done. Although I wonder if she knew that nearly every girl who acts like that is hiding behind a tough-as-bollocks exterior, and consequently could use that particular bit of advice. I'm no mindreader. It's mathematics- it's simple probability at work. _

He paused, smiled. _Still, I liked her. _


	4. Pandora and Cook

_The sun can never be too bright. _That was the first thought to cross her mind as she opened the door to the shed, tiptoed out, and shut it as quietly as she could. _Mum will probably be wondering where I am. _Freddie's backyard was really quite beautiful in the daylight- sun streaming down, life everywhere. It made her want to lay out in the sunshine and lap it up like fresh milk.

If only Freddie were here.

Then maybe Effy wouldn't be so sad.

She walked. Down the street, past the rows of identical houses, through the park, she walked. It all looked a little different- was it because she knew she was leaving it behind, or because she had only begun to see it for all its possibility and magic, or because there was still something missing from it? She didn't know, but that was okay.

She kept walking. This time, it was different- she wanted to go wherever her errant feet happened to take her. Almost at the precise moment when she turned onto a particular street, a shadow passed over the sun and everything went oddly dark… that was when she saw him. He came out of a house she had never seen. Stopped. Looked around. Failed to see her. Started to walk away.

As always, her mouth preceded her brain. She chirped, "Cook!"

He whirled around on the spot, a little more jerkily than usual. Unlike his usual lolling stride, he walked toward her purposefully, clasped her hand in his own, and whispered, "C'mon." She had always followed without question- this time was no different.

He pulled her into the gap between two hedges. "Panda? What the hell are you doing out here?"

"I dunno- I was just walking-"

"You've got to get out of here, Panda."

His brusqueness annoyed her- the indignation rose in her until it began to billow out of her throat. "The hell I do! Cook, I'm sick of being left out of the loop. You left the party last night without a word to anyone, not even Eff, and you just up and say I've got to…"

She paused; Cook had hung his head low and begun to cry, for no reason whatsoever. "… Cook? What's the matter?" He shook his head silently. In the enclosure of the hedges, she felt protected- it was the least she could do to make him, her friend and once-upon-a-time lover, feel protected too. She knelt, putting her hands on his shoulders and slowly lowering him down too. His whole body was trembling with suppressed cries, but not cries that had any ordinary aspect to them- no, these were like the abject sobs of a child who could not find his mother in a winter storm. Pandora offered her arms to him, and it was almost like he fell into her body- it was strange to be holding a Cook who was not showering her with frenetic kisses and caresses, but a Cook who desperately needed her in a different way. He buried his head in the crook of her neck, and his cries gently subsided. He sniffled.

"He killed Freddie, Panda… he killed Freddie."

Her head snapped up. "What?" There was nothing to believe in those words. She seized his torso, bringing his eyes up to meet hers. "Who?"

"Foster. Effy's shrink. John Foster. I was reading Freddie's diary, and he said that he didn't trust Foster… and Freddie couldn't have just up and left like that, not with Effy as fucked up as she is, I _know _him… so I went to Foster's, and I- I found…"

"What, Cook?" She touched his cheek- the desperation was written on her face, plain as day. "_What did you find?_"

"His- his clothes… they were in a bag, and they-" his breath hitched- "they were covered in blood…"

Pandora knew that she couldn't cry, _not_ _here_ of all places. She bowed her head, and her face stretched into a silent scream- any stranger who would have seen might have called it grotesque, any but for those who are well acquainted with grief. Her world was crashing down 'round her ears. What would the others say? And Effy… oh, Effy…

Cook rose. "Panda, I've got to get out of here."

She looked up at him. "Why? What'd you do?" He shook his head. "Cook…"

His hand reached out to hers, and he wove his fingers in between her own. "I can't tell you, Panda. If the police ask you where I've been or what I've done-"

She nodded. "I understand. But thanks for telling me. Nobody's ever told me anything that mattered before." He smiled, as much as a person grieving his best friend could. "About Freddie… how are the others going to find out?"

Cook sighed. "Karen should probably tell the others… she'll know what to say better than either of us could. I'm going now to tell her… and then I'm getting out of the country."

"Where will you go?"

"I dunno."

The tears began to drip from her face. "So is this goodbye?"

He stared into her face, long and hard. "I think so."

She reached into her pocket, rummaged around a bit, withdrew something. "My mum gave me three hundred quid for doing so well on exams… I reckon you should have it."

"Panda…"

"No." She pressed the notes into his hand. This was no flight of fancy, no fleeting impulse, and she needed him to know that. "I want you to have it."

He embraced her again, with the ferocity of honestly not knowing whether he would see her again. "Pandora… I don't think I ever really appreciated you."

She smiled. " 'S alright. Everybody knows I'm dead useless anyway."

"You're not useless. A bit daffy, maybe, but never useless." He began to walk away. "Panda?"

"Yes, Cookie?"

His gaze turned serious. "Sit down, close your eyes, and count to one hundred."

She knew what he was doing. Dutifully, she sat, wryly noticing that there she went again, following orders like a little girl. _That_ was something that needed to change. As she caught a last glimpse of him, he was ascending, flight-like, onto a brick wall nearby. He was between her and the sun now- perhaps it was better to think of him that way, as if James Cook had been here for a time, destroyed nearly everything in his wake, made love to her with the ferocity of a thousand men, woke up and decided to walk into the sunrise one day, and let it swallow him up.

She wrenched her eyes shut. "One… two… three…"


	5. Alo and Sid

Author's Note: Hello, readers! Hope you're enjoying what you've seen so far. A note on the chronological order of this one: this occurs when Sid is rescued from Cassie's treatment facility. Enjoy!

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><p><em>This place is fucking bedlam. <em>

Sid Jenkins couldn't stand the commotion outside his room- the only commotion that should have been happening was him storming into the place, telling Cass that he loved her, and riding into the sunset or whatever the fuck was supposed to happen next.

But instead, he was stuck in a fucking loony bin.

Without warning, a flash of orange passed over the window in the door. Sid peered at it warily- he hadn't seen a ginger orderly coming in. A too-familiar blue eye squinted through the window. A well-known voice whispered "Aha!" triumphantly. And, with surprisingly little warning, the figure to which the hair, and eye, and voice belonged burst into the room. "Hello!" he cheered.

Sid blinked his eyes. "Alo- what the fuck-"

The redhead came over to him, gave him a friendly shove. "We're here to break you out, mate. Tony's out with the car. Now, c'mon- we gotta get you out of here."

"But how did you find me?"

Alo shrugged. "It was all Tony- he got the job done. But I'll explain in the car- we don't have much time before…"

His voice trailed off as a series of clanging footsteps echoed down the hallway. A pair of orderlies skidded into view, caught sight of the boys, and immediately began to give chase.

Sid's eyes seemed to pop out of his head. "Oh, _shit!" _he yelled, and the two took off down the hallway, not even bothering to listen to the repeated calls of "Stop!" "Get back here!"

Their feet pounded furiously against the polished marble floor. Alo grinned, clearly ready for any pursuit. "Take that-" he unscrewed the cap of a water bottle and flung the contents along the floor behind them- "mother_fuckers!" _

The biggest and burliest of the men slipped, hitting the floor with an unprecedented thud. The other orderlies slowed down, beginning to squabble.

"I've never seen _either _of those boys before-"

"They must be visitors…"

"For fuck's sake, I checked _that _one in this morning!"

But their voices grew quieter, and eventually faded away, as Alo and Sid burst through the heavy wooden doors into freedom. Tony, as promised, was waiting in the car- within an instant, he went from tense to excited. The setting sun was brilliantly glowing behind the tree line. The whole world felt like it was made of victory in that one spectacular moment- like it was the end of the best action film of their lives.

Sid looked at Alo. Alo looked at Sid.

"Thanks, man. I owe you one." Sid sighed.

"Ah, it's nothing." As they turned to go to the car, Sid paused. "Alo… how do I look?"

Alo gave him a quick once-over, grinned, and nodded. "Like a man in love! Cassie won't know what hit her. But we must be off, good sir- your lady awaits!"

They loaded into the car- Tony revved the engine, and they were almost immediately on their way to the adventure that waited for them. The night was full of promise… they could just _tell. _There was a change in the air.


End file.
